Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-08-19
CHAPTER XIV,

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occurrence, but / was feverisl from the
! excitement of my adventure, and Mr..
Rayner had forbidden my walking
about the grounds for this reason. l
found Mona sitting among the reeds,
not far from my ''nest," playing with
some bits of paper. which she was busy
burying in the mud with the aid of two
little sticks. stopped down and
picked up one or two of the bits of pa
per. There was writing on them in a
hand knew and had not made out a
dozen words before l knew that Mona
had got hold of a note written to me by
Mr.. Laurence Reade..
Down jumped into the mud. caring
nothing for it although sunk in up to
my ankles. ! made careful search in
the mud and around upon the ground
and collected every piece of paper l
could find. which carried to my room
l carefully cleaned the fragments and
after much effort fitted them together
into pretty coherent whole. The
note ran, as well as l could make out:
DEAR Miss CHRIsrIE:-I am SO anxious
about you that must write. ls it true that
here there was piece ;ssing-'an accident,
that you are Ill. hurt: you are safe and
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morrow. that l may see you and know that
you"-another p'ece missing. 81 shall put
this on the seat near the pond, where know
you go every evening.
| LAURENCE READE"
1t was dated "wednesday" and
this was Thursday afternoon; so that it
was this mornings walk that he had
meant. Oh, if l had only come out
here last night and found the letter!
would 60 past the park tomorrow; but
perhaps it would be too late, and he
would not expect me then-he would
think was too i'll to come out.
| So the next morning l took care to
pass Geldham Hall. both going and re-
turning; but the first time saw no one
in the park, and the second time, to
my surprise, ] saw Mr.. Rayner and
Mrs. Reade sauntering along together
under the trees in very friendly man.
ner. had noticed that it had grad
ually become quite natural for the
naughty Mrs. Headc to turn to Mr..
Rayner rs soon us we all came out of
church on Sunday, and for them to
have long chat together. while her
daughters looked at the people from
the Alders rs superciliously as before;
but did not know that he visited at
Geldham Hall. still less that | , and
Mrs. Rcadc were on terms of such in
timacy that she leaned on his arm as
they walked along, and laughed as he
talked in n much more natural and un-
affected manner than her dignity gen
orally allowed.
| The next evening had to go to tea
at Mrs. Manners to take part in the
final arrangements for the school treat
which was to occur the next day. Mrs.
Manners received me with the utmost
kindness and introduced me to the
Misses Reade, who greeted me with icy
politeness. l did not find it pleasant
party. The talk ran upon parish mat
ters, of which l knew nothing; and l
went to a table by the window and
looked at the photographs in two large
albums. When Mr.. Manners came in
there was stir, and as he remarked it
was pleasant day they all flew upon
this topic and worried it to death. Then
ne came and sat by me, greeting me
kindly, and showed me some pictures
Of scenery and told me what places
they represented.
Then we had tea. after which we
went upstairs to look at the articles for
sale. While we were looking at them
Mrs. Manners said to me, nervOusly:
| You have never been in o situation
before. have you?"
| mo, never before"
"A governess' position has many
trials and difficulties"
Il haven't met with any yet" said
l, smiling.
''Of course some families are pleas
anter to live with than others. But in
all there arise occasions when we must
pray for guidance"
"Yes. Mrs. Manners, very gently.
IAN honest open face! said she, as
though talking to herself Then in a
| quicker and more practical tone:
II hope you will not think I am
catechising you rudely; but Mr.. Man
ners and take a great interest IN you,
knowing how young and inexperienced
you are to have to 60 out into the world
alone. And he thinks Ihave neglected
you little. But, you see, Mrs. Ray
ner is SO very-reserved, and lives such
q secluded life, that it is not easy to
form an intimacy. But l want you to
feel sure, my dear Miss Christie, that,
If you should want friends advice at
any time, you need not fear to confid,
in me; and Mr.. Mapners, being a man
and your parish clergyman, could help
you in cases where my woman's judg-
ment might be at fault"
thanked her with tears in my ewes,
and. although l did not anticipate
needing her help, her manner was so
sincere that was touched bv it.
Then We went down stairs anu I'M
ished up the evening with music. After
several of the ladies had given speci-
mems of their skill was asked to play,
and chose Schumann's "Arabesque,"
and they seemed astonished because l
played it by heart, heard Miss Reade
whisper;
~ don't like her style. That great
difference between forte and piano
seems to be an affectation."
While was playing, Mr.. Laurence
Reade came in to take his sisters home.
When l had finished, every body
looked at us as he shook hands with
me in rather distant manner; but he
managed to press my hand before he
let it 60; so did not mind. And
every body listened, as he said:
I'VE heard up at the Hall dreadful
reports that you were i'll, Miss Christie,
and wouldn't be able to come to the
school-treat."
"Oh, no, l wasn't ill. One of the
servants gave me alright in the night"
said l. Il woke up in the night and
found her ransacking by things. Then
l screamed with all my might, and Mr..
Rayner came up and called her out
and scolded her."
was glad to be able to give this ex-
PLANTATION. which was listened to with
much attention by all in the room, for
l felt sure rumors had gone about
Then Mrs. Manners spoke to Mr.
ised to come and help.
"You are going to have a much
grander affair than usual. 1 hear" he
said.
1T sounds ungracious to say so,"
L